Switch to Customer (Impersonate)

The Switch to Customer feature lets an administrator log in as a specific customer to see the store exactly as that customer would — useful for troubleshooting My Account issues, checking subscription status, or reproducing a problem. This is a real login as the customer, so read What is and isn’t recorded below before using it.

🔄 How it works

In The Customers List, click the ⋯ actions button on the customer’s row and choose Switch to Customer.
You land on the storefront My Account page, logged in as that customer, where you can see their orders, subscriptions, addresses and account details.
The admin bar shows 👤 Viewing as: [customer name] ([role]) so you always know whose account you are in.
Click ← Switch Back in the admin bar to return to your own administrator account and the Customer Info dashboard.

While viewing as a customer, avoid actions that change their account — cancelling a subscription, paying an order or editing addresses — unless you intend to do that on their behalf. Anything you do is saved to their real account.

↩️ Getting back, and what to do if you get stuck

Switch Back is a logout. The admin-bar link logs the customer session out, which restores your administrator session and returns you to the Customer Info dashboard (or wherever you switched from). Using the ordinary Log out link in My Account does exactly the same thing.

If the admin bar is not visible: while you are switched in, the plugin forces the admin bar on, even on themes that normally hide it on the storefront. If it is still not there — a heavily customised theme, for example — any logout restores your admin session, because the switch-back is tied to the logout event. Visit /wp-login.php?action=logout (confirm the prompt) and you will be returned to your administrator account.

🔒 Security safeguards

Safeguard	Details
Administrator only	Requires the `manage_options` capability. A Shop manager — who can otherwise use the whole dashboard — cannot switch.
Nonce protected	Each switch is verified with a one-time security nonce.
No admin targets	You cannot switch into another Administrator account. Only customer / non-admin accounts can be targeted; a visitor without an account cannot.
Encrypted return	Your original admin identity is stored in an encrypted, HTTP-only cookie and restored on Switch Back.

🧾 What is and isn’t recorded

Switches are not logged, and actions you take while switched are attributed to the customer, not to you. While switched in you hold the customer’s own session, so an order paid, an address changed or a subscription cancelled is recorded against the customer — there is no record that an administrator did it, and the plugin writes no audit log of who switched, into whose account, or when. If your store needs impersonation to be auditable, keep your own record before you switch.

Question	Answer
Is the switch written to a log?	No. The plugin records no audit trail of switches.
Are my actions attributed to me or the customer?	To the customer. You are using their session.
Does it update the customer’s “Last Login”?	No. The switch sets the session directly rather than running WordPress’s normal login, so it does not fire the `wp_login` event that a security plugin uses to record a last login.
Is the customer notified?	No. Nothing is sent to the customer and no consent is recorded. If your privacy policy needs to cover staff impersonating accounts, add it there yourself.

🍪 Session details

The switch issues the customer a standard WordPress session cookie, so the impersonation lasts until you switch back, log out, or the normal WordPress session expires — whichever comes first. Your saved return location is kept for one hour. The switch happens in the browser you are using; it does not affect the customer’s own logged-in sessions on their own devices.

Separate from any “View as Customer” plugin. Switch to Customer is built into Customer Info and needs no other plugin. If you also run a third-party “View as Customer” tool, the two are independent — you do not need both, and either can be used on its own.

🧰 Troubleshooting

Problem	What to check
Switch to Customer is missing from the ⋯ menu	You need the `manage_options` capability — a Shop manager will not see it. Administrators only.
The row is for another administrator	Switching into an Administrator account is blocked by design; the option will not act.
No “Switch Back” in the admin bar	The theme may be suppressing it. Log out by any means — e.g. `/wp-login.php?action=logout` — to restore your admin session.
I landed somewhere unexpected after switching back	You return to your saved location, or the Customer Info dashboard if the one-hour return cookie has expired.